World Bank Appoints Mulyani to Lead IDA22 Funding Drive for World’s Poorest Countries
Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The World Bank Group has appointed former Indonesian Finance Minister Dr. Sri Mulyani Indrawati as Independent Co-Chair of the International Development Association (IDA22) replenishment process, entrusting one of the world’s foremost development finance experts with helping secure billions of dollars in fresh funding for the world’s poorest countries over the next decade.
The appointment, announced Monday in Washington, places Indrawati at the centre of negotiations that will determine financing for 78 low-income countries through 2031, as global development partners confront rising debt burdens, climate shocks, food insecurity and widening financing gaps.
She will co-chair the IDA22 replenishment alongside the World Bank Group’s Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer, Paschal Donohoe, following her selection by a committee representing both donor and borrower nations.
The replenishment exercise, conducted every three years, determines the scale of financial support available through the International Development Association—the World Bank’s concessional lending arm that provides grants and zero or low-interest loans to the world’s poorest economies.
In announcing the appointment, the World Bank said:
> “Donor and borrower country representatives of the World Bank Group International Development Association have selected Dr. Sri Mulyani Indrawati of Indonesia as Independent Co-Chair of IDA’s twenty-second replenishment. In this role, she will champion stronger policy and financial support for IDA22 across donor and borrower countries.”
Indrawati currently serves as a Blavatnik World Leaders Fellow at the University of Oxford for the 2025–2026 academic year. She previously served as Indonesia’s first female Minister of Finance before becoming the World Bank Group’s Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, where she played a central role in shaping global development financing policies.
Since its establishment in 1960, the International Development Association has committed more than $632 billion to development projects across 115 countries, supporting investments in healthcare, education, agriculture, infrastructure, climate resilience and economic recovery.
The IDA22 negotiations will officially commence during the Mid-Term Review meeting scheduled for December 2026 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, before culminating in the final donor pledging conference in December 2027, where financing commitments covering the 2028–2031 period will be agreed.
Development economists say the replenishment comes at a critical time as many low-income nations continue to grapple with post-pandemic recovery challenges, escalating climate-related disasters and shrinking fiscal space.
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Oluwafunbi Bello 